YouTube to clamp down on copyright-infringing videos

There are plenty of videos on YouTube currently that lets you watch TV shows (of both old and new persuasion), thanks to the efforts of fans who want to share their favorite shows with the rest of the world. While their intention is pure, going about this way is against the law since that act alone infringes upon copyright laws. Apparently Google (owner of YouTube) will utilize a special kind of technology that is smart enough to weed out copyright-infringing videos on its site by the time fall rolls around, potentially making YouTube a less popular place. Apparently, YouTube is currently collaborating with major content companies with regard to video recognition technology that is as sophisticated as the FBI’s own fingerprint technology.

Owners of videos in the future will be able to provide a digital fingerprint that allows the system to remove an uploaded video within a minute upon detection. To date, Viacom, Bourne, and the Premier League have filed lawsuits against YouTube for trial purposes, where Viacom is looking for up to a billion dollars in compensation for damages incurred in the unauthorized viewing of its programming from MTV, Comedy Central and other networks. I don’t know about you, but opening many windows or tabs simultaneously just to view a single show isn’t my cup of tea, and I’m pretty sure that the perceived damages are certainly way higher than they actually are. After all, if Google’s got a whole lot of dough in their coffers at this moment, why not take advantage of the situation?

YouTube on the other hand claims that those lawsuits have gone beyond what is required under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This Act will provide web hosts protection from copyright lawsuits so long as the company complies with requests to remove unauthorized material. While this requires a whole lot of manpower to monitor the millions of video clips on YouTube, the video fingerprinting being developed will definitely come in handy for automated regulation. How many of you actually log on to YouTube to get a dose of TV shows?